fastenvsfragtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“fasten” and “fragten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,357
“fasten” frequency rank
#15,090
“fragten” frequency rank
30447
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fasten fragten
Definition (aus körperlichen oder religiösen Gründen) für eine bestimmte Zeit auf alle oder gewisse Nahrung verzichten 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fragen

Where the eye mixes fasten and fragten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fasten runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against fragten's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
fasten
7 ch
fragten

Look-alike desk: fasten vs fragten

A purely visual mix-up. fasten ([ˈfastn̩]) and fragten ([ˈfʁaːktn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30447, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fasten is recorded at frequency rank #15,357, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfastn̩]. fragten is at rank #15,090, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁaːktn̩].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 30447, this pair ranks #1,747,652 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fasten vs fragten

Shared letters: aefnt. Private to "fasten": s. Private to "fragten": gr.

"fasten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fragten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fasten ← afsten · fasetn · fastenn · fastne · fastten · fatsen · ffasten · fsaten
  • fragten ← fargten · ffragten · fragetn · fraggten · fragtenn · fragtne · fragtten · fratgen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fasten" and "fragten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfastn̩] versus [ˈfʁaːktn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fasten" vs "fragten" - which ranks higher?
"fragten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,090 in our German list, against #15,357 for "fasten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "fasten" and "fragten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fasten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fragten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,747,652 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fasten" and "fragten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fragten vs Fritten". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,747,652 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list